Gracefully Old
by Loopyallie
Summary: Susan Lewis’s son Cosmo's first day at the County reunites his mother and her friend Abby Lockhart for first time in 20 years… They look back where everyone is... not all past news are good news… Chapter 2 now up...
1. 2025

**"Gracefully Old"**

**Summary:** Susan Lewis's son Cosmo's first day at County reunites his mother and her friend Abby Lockhart for first time in 20 years… Not all past news are good news…

Don't own the characters nor make any money from stories written, happy to write for pleasure! ER belongs to Michael Crichton and John Wells.

Thank you Maria... You know ;)

**Chapter 1 – 2025**

Cosmo Lewis-Martin walked through the automatic doors and into the ER of County General. It was the hospital he had grown up hearing about. It was the place his Mother had called home for many years. He made his way through the hallway, dodging the gurneys and patients that were situated on the edges of the wall.

The admit desk seemed abandoned. There was no clerk, only files and papers stacked in random piles on the counter. Cosmo glanced to his left and right, but saw no one. "Hello?" he said.

There was no answer. He glanced around uncomfortably and tugged on the edge of his blue button-up shirt before smoothing the rest of it out.

"Can I help you?" a man in his late twenties asked over the music he was listening to on his iPod.

"Uh, yeah, today's my first day." Cosmo looked uncomfortably at the man who was now shuffling papers behind the admit desk.

"Right," the clerk said, "let me get somebody for you." He looked down the hallways and then sighed. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Someone will be right with you."

Cosmo rested his elbows against the edge of the counter. The ER rotated around him. Nurses moved about on invisible missions and Cosmo watched as chaotic patterns began to emerge through the bustling hallways. A firm nudge brought him out of his observations. He turned to see a woman in her mid-fifties standing next to him. She smiled at him, and then stretched out her hand.

"Mr. Martin?" She asked

Cosmo nodded and shook her hand.

"I'm Doctor Lockhart, the chief of the ER. But don't let that scare you."

Cosmo recognised her right away. She looked just as she did in his Mom's old photos. The years had been kind and Cosmo felt a little weird about thinking so. Sure, there were the lines around the eyes and mouth, but by today's standards she still looked good.

"Nice to meet you Dr. Lockhart," he replied.

"So Mr. Martin, what's your first name?" Abby placed her hands into her lab coat and moved behind the admit desk. "George, where are the orientation packets for new med students?"

"Abby, you don't know who I am do you?" He asked.

Abby looked up and stared at him. She hadn't told him her first name. "No" She replied in a low tone and shook her head.

Cosmo smiled, he figured the New York accent threw her off a bit. "You knew me when I was a toddler"

Abby chuckled. "I've known a lot of toddlers in my time"

"I'm sure you have," Cosmo took a small step back, "but you were really good friends with my Mom."

"Your mom?" Abby tweaked a little smile and narrowed her eyes to think for a moment. "Martin?" She looked at Cosmo again. "Cosmo? Susan's Cosmo?"

Cosmo nodded and laughed.

"You look so much like your mom," Abby walked around and stood by Cosmo. "You've got her eyes. Well wow umm… how is your Mom?"

"She's good; she runs a free clinic in Long Island," Cosmo said. He ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair, "you know she's getting into town today, some conference."

"I'd love to see her again." Abby leaned against the admit desk. "I can't remember the last time I saw her."

"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem, she would be thrilled to see you again."

"I see you've followed in her footsteps then?"

"Yes," Cosmo smiled and ran his hands through his hair again.

Abby's pager began to beep. "I've got to go to trauma 3. Dr Novino, our chief resident, will be with you shortly to show you around," she said "I'll catch you later."

"Thanks, I'll see you later." Cosmo watched Abby walk down the hall and then resumed watching the happenings of the ER.

* * *

Cosmo walked out of exam 2, still writing on his chart. He hadn't truly believed the stories his Mom had told him throughout the years, but one shift had shown him how reliable a source his mother actually was. The admit desk now seemed like the epicentre of the ER. Cosmo placed his chart in the appropriate bin and then stretched his arms toward the ceiling.

"Long day?" Cosmo looked up to see his mother standing in front of him with a smile.

"Hey Mom," Cosmo moved next to his Mom and placed his hand on her back.

"How's your day going?" Susan rose herself up on her toes to plant a kiss on her son's cheek.

"A bit daunting, finding my way round and all," Cosmo shrugged.

"It takes time"

"I met the ER Chief," Cosmo grinned broadly.

"Nice," Susan nodded and frowned at her son's expression. "A female I guess. Oh, Cosmo don't tell me that you like her."

"I probably would, if she was thirty years younger."

"Pleased to hear that," Susan said.

"I think you and the chief would make a better pair." Cosmo shrugged his shoulders and nudged his mother.

"What?" Susan asked, giving her son the parental look of wearing patience.

"You can see for yourself," Cosmo pointed down the hall.

Susan turned to see the woman walking down the hall. Her brown hair was streaked with grey, and pulled up into a loose ponytail. Her white coat swayed with her stride. Susan studied the woman, and then broke into a smile. "Oh my god Abigail Lockhart!"

Abby froze, and stared back at the woman. "Susan?"

"You know it," Susan and Abby hugged and chuckle with delight.

"How long has it been?" Abby asked.

"Almost twenty years," Susan replied.

Abby and Susan pulled away from one another, taking another glance at each other. "Looks like life's been good to you," Susan said with a smirk.

"You too, I mean, you've got some oomph going on back there." Abby gestured to Susan's butt.

"Speak for yourself; you should see the size of your ass!" Susan said with a smirk.

"Yeah well it's the middle aged spread" Abby replied. It was good to hear the subtle snort in Susan's laugh. It was something that she had been so used to years ago.

Abby and Susan hugged again. Susan couldn't help but think how good it felt to be with someone who was without agenda, someone who knew her and someone she knew.

"There's so much to talk about," Abby finally said.

"That could be an understatement," Susan said.

"How about coffee? My shift is over in twenty minutes, think you can wait?" Abby looked at her watch.

"I think I can do that," Susan said. "Is it okay if I wait in the lounge?"

"Of course," Abby said, "I'll see you in twenty." Abby gave Cosmo a squeeze on the arm and then headed toward exam three.

"Happy you came?" Cosmo asked.

"Have I told you that I love you today?" Susan gave him a kiss on the cheek and the headed towards the lounge.


	2. Fallen Hero

**Chapter 2 – Fallen Hero**

Susan opened the door to the coffee shop. The strong odour of rich blends wafted out, it was enough to send her into withdrawals. The two women slid through the small maze of tables until they settled on one in the corner. Susan picked up the electronic menu and glanced at the endless list of options.

"You know, I still like a plain vanilla latte," Abby said.

"We're from a different time," Susan sat the menu down. "So, umm, did you ever get married again?"

"Yes I did" Abby answered vaguely.

"Oh my, I thought you said you wouldn't!"

Abby smiled at Susan. "You've changed, I mean, it's just been so long."

"What does husband do?" Susan asked.

"My husband? Luka? He runs a private practice…" Abby answered and smiled pouring more sugar into her coffee.

"Oh? Luka… Wow! I… didn't expect you both be back together" Susan looked surprised. "So you've been at County all these years?" It was the first sentence that popped into her head, but somehow Abby had missed the seemless transition in subjects.

"No I left County back in 2008 to go to an Attending position in Boston…" Abby replied without going into details, why they had to make fresh start when their marriage nearly hit the rocks. Avoiding the pain of explaining why she hit the bottle again after Luka left for Croatia to nurse his sick father. "And 10 years ago, I had to look after Maggie."

"Oh, so she's? Susan tried to think of a tactful way to phrase the question, but again, there was nothing.

"Yes, she's gone now. She had the condition a few years, but it got progressively worse. I tried to put her in a home at first, but she was too stubborn. Eventually we did manage in the end. That put my mind at rest, but I had a persistent problem with the home. They would keep phoning me at work, at home even in the middle of the night. It got so bad at work; they were on my back about the issue. It even caused problems in my marriage; our sex life was out of the window. Every time we got intimate the phone rang. That's when I decided to quit Boston Mass. and go care for her. Maggie didn't do anything but terrorise the nurses. The home never had such a large turnover rate with employees. She got frail and weak, it wasn't long. I came back to County after I heard a vacancy for the chief".

"Wow, it must have been hard." Abby half smiled at Susan, looking sympathetic. The assistant came to the table and delivered the coffees.

"Yeah what about Carter? What's he's doing these days? Still married to Kem?" Susan asked. Over the years she had lost touch with everyone. Unexpectedly moving, hiding, these were the types of things that cause friendships to fade.

"He died."

"What?" Susan asked, putting her hand in front of her mouth "When?"

"Two years ago."

Susan looked down at her coffee. How could Carter be dead? How could she have not known? "I'm so sorry to hear that, I wish I could have been here."

"I tried to find you in Iowa, but you had moved and no one knew where you had gone." Abby took a sip of her coffee.

"I moved on to run a free-clinic in Long Island. It was short notice." Susan's bottom lip started to quiver and tears welled up in her eye. "I-I can't get over that, was he ill?"

"No, he was killed."

"What? I mean, killed?" Susan looked Abby, noticing the lines around her eyes, the worn look she hid behind a smile. She had once been her best friend, and now, she felt as though she didn't even know her.

"Carter flew from Paris, back to Chicago to attend a meeting, you know his family business. He was making his way to Union Station to meet a client. A little girl's dog suddenly broke away from its leash and ran out into the road. There was a truck coming. The dog ran out in front of it, and the truck barely missed it. The girl ran after her dog. The driver of the truck hit the brakes but the girl came running out from nowhere. The truck jack-knifed and all the little girl could do was watch. Carter's instant reaction was to save the girl. The truck hit Carter. It killed him instantly. The girl lived. His wife Kem and of course all of us were angry and upset at him, he always overestimated his capabilities, keeps forgetting that he is not as young as he used to be." Abby paused, aware of her habit of speaking about Carter as if he were still alive.

Susan wiped the tears off of her cheeks and stifled her desire to let more fall. "He always did overestimate himself. That was Carter."

"I'll never forget that day when I heard the news. I was at home, having a crisis with our son, Joe."

"You two had a son?" Susan was amazed. Of all the things, she would have never guessed Abby would become a mom. But then Susan had always thought she would have made a wonderful parent. The kids who had it bad usually understood the high stakes of parenting.

"Yes, he's 19 now." Abby said.

"Wow." Susan sipped her coffee.

"I knew he was hiding something from us. That day he blurted out that his girlfriend was pregnant. I went ballistic. Luka and I always stressed the facts about sex education. Keep yourself protected. We misjudged his naivety. I was trying to control my emotions, I was so angry. I was so angry at the fact our son was only 17 and we didn't even know that he had a girlfriend! Joe got angry and cried. I was dying for a cigarette, haven't had one since I had problems…" Abby paused as she recalled that she last had one when they were having problems after Luka had to go home to Croatia. She continued "When I erm found out I was pregnant... Anyway there was a knock on the door. It was the police. I thought _shit! _They've come round to see about a domestic disturbance because of my yelling. No. They told me there had been an accident; I thought it was Luka at first but no… Carter. Luka and I were the only people he knew personally as his family no longer lived in the area. The police wanted me to identify the body."

Abby paused for a few seconds and drew in a deep breath before carrying on talking.

"The police took me to the mortuary. They pulled out the body, and uncovered it. My world came crashing in, it was him. The shock was overwhelming. I was in pieces, kneeling on the floor, hysterically beating my fists against the tile, trying to get rid of the pain. I did this in front of the police officer. He tried to comfort me, the state I was in, as I once had a relationship with this guy and we had always been friends. Carter was lying there, looking peaceful. I left the mortuary feeling empty and numb, trying to figure out how to break the news to his wife and his 3 children – 2 girls and a boy. I broke down again."

Susan blew her nose again. She placed her hand on Abby's and gave a gentle squeeze. The sadness in Abby's eyes was enough to bring another wave of tears to Susan's.

"I'm sorry you had to go," Susan managed to say. "The last time I felt like this was after Mark died."

"The funeral," Abby sighed, "It was the biggest turnout I've ever seen.

"He was important, important to a lot of people for his kindness and generosity"

Abby chuckled nervously "Talk about generosity, he was the one who paid my fees when I went back to medical school."

Susan smiled sadly, touched by Carters gesture after Abby's had confessed how she got back to med school, her feelings right now were reserved by the bad news.

They both sat there in silence, drinking their coffee. They shared a few glances, and smiles.

"I still can't believe that you two ended up back together," Susan said, putting her mug down.

"We have been married for 18 years."

"Why didn't I get a wedding invitation?" Susan joked.

"Because Luka whisked me off to a romantic dinner, I was confused as it was in some warehouse. When we entered the building, I freaked out big time!"

"Why?"

"Because everyone from work was there! Not only that I felt humiliated and angry, Luka blindsided me."

"Abby, the years I worked with you, I know you are not one for surprises."

Abby drew in a deep breath "Of course Luka tried to convince me and I finally gave in, as long as Joe was there."

"He always was romantic."

"Just like you and Chuck, a spur of the moment wedding."

Chuck, Susan didn't often think of him now, but his name still turned her stomach. The uneasiness of her past, it was something she wanted to forget. It was a past that tarnished her, that complicated the rest of her life.


End file.
